Rescue Me 2 Show Me Who I Am
by r2roswell
Summary: Part 2 of my 'Rescue Me' series. A lost item is returned causing Emma to question the line between truth and fiction. She and Henry are not alone though as Neal is determined to help them retain their memories.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1.**

* * *

The next morning came and as Neal had told Henry, they went out for a bite to eat before Henry had to get to school.

"I found out who you are," Henry said as the three of them sat at a far end booth at a hole it the wall that he and his mom visited regularly.

The outside looked like a dump but they made some of the best waffles in the city. Emma and Henry liked the back booth for privacy though for some reason Emma never understood why, it's not like they had any secrets to hide.

On this cloudy morning Emma and Henry both had their hot cocoas with cinnamon and a plate of waffles and oatmeal while Neal was content with a cup of coffee, oatmeal and fruit.

"And who am I," Neal asked.

"You're Baelfire, you're Rumpelstiltskin's son."

Neal swallowed the lump in his throat. It had been over a year since he lost his father and though he had lived centuries without Rumple it was still hard now knowing that he was gone for good this time.

"You're right Henry, that's exactly who I am."

"You kept saying yesterday that we don't remember, remember what?"

"The past year that we had together," Neal replied.

"But I just met you."

"Yeah technically you did but something bad happened and the two of you were forced to forget all about Storybrooke and all about us."

"So Emma's parents really are Snow White and Prince Charming, they're not just stories?"

"Nope, it's all real," Neal said with a huge smile.

Emma couldn't believe that Neal was indulging in Henry's fantasies. She wished he hadn't come back into her life, that things could go back to the way they before, back when it was just her and Henry, back when everything was normal but the odds of that happening seemed to be dwindling by the hour.

"All right kid," said Emma, "Time for you to get to school."

"Do I have to?" Henry complained.

"Henry, listen to your mom," said Neal, "I'll still be here when you get back."

"Promise?"

"Hey have I ever let you down before?"

Emma looked at Neal seriously questioning if he had just asked that ridiculous question. He knew what she was thinking.

"After that," Neal said to her, "And never mind what I just asked." He then looked at Henry, "The point is I haven't and now that I'm back I won't. I'm here for the rest of your life buddy."

Henry smiled at Neal and hugged him and then looked up at him like he was going to ask a question.

"So if it's all true that means our memory loss is too right?"

"I'm afraid so buddy," said Neal, "but don't worry I'm going to help change that."

"Why were our memories erased," Henry asked.

Neal looked at Emma not liking the look he was getting from her but he answered Henry's question anyway.

"It's a long story. Simple version is that the memory loss is a side effect of Pan's curse."

"Pan as in Peter Pan!" Henry said excitedly though not excited over losing his memory.

"The very one," Neal said.

"Awesome."

"We need to work on your definition of awesome," Neal said.

"Well not awesome that we lost our memories but awesome that it's all real. So what should we name it?"

"Name it?" Neal asked.

Emma just shook her head and smiled. "Henry likes give names to his secret missions but kid this isn't a mission."

"Yes it is. I've been right about everything. You just need to find a way to believe that. Maybe that's why Neal is here to help us. Everyone at school thinks I'm crazy but now I know I'm not."

Emma looked sadly at her son. He was right. People at school did think he was crazy. Emma heard the whispers from other parents so she could only imagine what other kids were saying. A couple of times teachers and the school counselors recommended that she place Henry in therapy but Emma never did.

There was only one time over a couple of years ago when Emma considered the possibility for a moment that Henry was crazy but if he was that meant she was too since she had those constant dreams of belonging in the Snow White fairytale too. After that she never questioned Henry again. She let him believe regardless of what others thought as long as those beliefs made him happy then that's all that mattered.

Emma sighed in defeat, "What should we name this one?" she asked him, "Operation Alzheimer's?"

Henry shook his head indicating no. That name was too easy, anyone could figure it out.

"Okay you got a better one, and make it quick because if we don't hurry you're going to be late for school."

"We need something that's obvious to us but not obvious to everyone else. How about Operation Swan?"

"Our last name, isn't that a little too obvious?"

"Sure but that's what makes it so cool because now there's a deeper meaning since I'm the True Believer and you're the Savior."

"Our boys' got a point. Those titles tie you directly to where you're really from so no one will ever know."

"Is this how it's gonna be from now on," Emma said amusingly, "You two ganging up on me all the time."

Henry and Neal both smiled. As Emma watched the two of them Henry had so many distinctive features from his father from the ears to the smile and puppy dog eyes, which even before Henry was born she could never say 'no' to.

Emma just shook her head and laughed, "Okay fine. Now can we go? Your teachers are going to scold me if you're late again."

Emma hated that, she had enough scolding in her life from her time in the foster system and then in jail.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

* * *

"He grew pretty fast in a year," Neal said to Emma as they made their way across town to her apartment.

"You act like you've seen him before, you just met him," said Emma.

Neal just nodded and let out a small laugh. He didn't say anything until they got back to Emma's place. As he looked around Neal could still hear the words that Regina had said to Emma a year ago when Emma said that the memories Regina would give them wouldn't be real. 'Well your past won't,' Regina had said to them, 'but your future will,' so everything that had happened from the moment Emma and Henry had crossed the town line had all been their doing and not some catalyst of their false memories.

Emma made some coffee and the two of them sat at the table. The two sat in silence for a moment. Emma wasn't sure what to say or do. There was so much she wanted to say to Neal, tell him how angry she was for him leaving but she couldn't find the words.

"Ask away Emma," Neal said opening their conversation, "What do you want to know?"

Emma tried to keep her composure, "Why now? After twelve years why did you have to show up now?"

"I told you, I came to find you, to bring you back to your family. Your parents need you Emma and so do I."

"I don't even know who my parents are so how could you know them?"

"Because I met them over a year ago when we came back to Storybrooke together."

"Have you looked on any maps lately because there is no place called Storybrooke. For all I know the things you're saying could be just made up stories. You're using my son to swindle your way back into my life. You're playing me."

"I'm not playing you Emma. Your parents really are Snow White and Prince Charming. Regina replaced your memories so she wouldn't leave you and Henry as blank slates when the curse hit. The curse was going to erase your memories of Storybrooke, of all of us. We were going to just go back being stories to you."

Emma shook her head and placed her hand on her forehead. "You sound like Henry."

"He's a smart kid. You should really listen to him."

Emma's mind was racing and she got up not being able to sit any longer. She walked to the window near the red couch.

"This is ridiculous. Everything you're saying is absolutely crazy."

Neal stood and walked over to Emma. He reached over his neck and unclasped something which had been hidden under his shirt.

"Then how do you explain this," Neal said to her holding the swan keychain.

This stopped Emma in her mid-pace. She hesitated and then reached out for it.

"I thought I lost this." She looked up to him, her anger subsiding, "Where did you find it?"

"I didn't find it. You gave it to me a year ago when we ran into each other in New York. You were so shattered. We went to a bar and we talked. I asked why you still kept the keychain and you-,"

"Took it off and placed it on the table. I think I said that was to remind myself never to trust anyone again the way I trusted you."

Neal smiled at Emma's recollection but she just shook her head. "It was just a dream, it was only a dream," she whispered over and over.

"Now you know it wasn't. How else do you explain me having it?"

"You could have found it anywhere, for all I know you're lying to me now," she said trying to find a logical explanation.

* * *

Along with the dreams Emma had had about being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, she had had dreams of Neal in New York where she was chasing someone for a reason she couldn't remember and every time she jumped him it was always Neal under the hood. Before she could hear anything from their conversation the dream had transported the two of them to a local bar where Neal told her things, things she couldn't remember except that there were a few things about him getting her home whatever that meant.

Now that those thoughts of the dreams were there Emma couldn't let them go.

"Our walk on some beach," Emma said to Neal, "You said something like you regretted leaving, that you wanted to go jail for me." Emma was now on the verge of tears, "Please tell me that was just a dream too because it would make this all so much easier if it was."

Neal took a step forward, "It wasn't a dream Emma it was real. Regina had gone missing and we went looking for her. When it was just the two of us I told you all those things. I did want to go to jail for you and I regretted leaving you."

Emma wanted to continue not believing Neal but it was hard when the evidence was staring right in her hands and right into her eyes. Emma had not shared her dreams with anyone, not even Henry so how could Neal possibly know things only in her mind when no one else did.

"It doesn't seem real," Emma admitted through some tears, "They feel like dreams. Henry's had them too, he tells me every morning when he does. I've never said a word. If that makes the dreams real then what does that say about the life Henry and I have? Are those just the false memories that Regina planted in our heads."

Neal could only nod at Emma's confirmation. He knew more than anything that Emma wanted her life with Henry to be real, to have never given him up and while on one strand she never did there was the other strand in which she had.

Emma could no longer hold back the tears. Everything she knew had all been a lie at least everything before the past year she had figured because it had been within that time frame that her life felt like hers and not like some puppet master playing around with the strings, she could never explain that sensation before but now she could.

Neal went to her and held her tight, "Shh," he whispered into her ear, "It's gonna be okay."

"How," Emma asked softly, "I don't know what's real and what's not anymore."

"I know. I'm gonna help you and Henry get your memories back, I promise. You just have to hang in there for me okay. We'll figure this out together, all three of us and then we'll go home." Neal smirked and looked at Emma, "You have a baby sister by the way."

Emma looked up at him, "Now probably isn't the time to be telling me stuff like that. The world I know and a world I don't are kind of clashing at the moment if you haven't noticed."

"Trust me once you get your memories back you'll be happy about it. You and your parents had finally found solid ground with each other and they even talked about having another baby."

"I still don't want to believe any of this you know."

"I know and you don't have to but it doesn't change anything."

Emma rested her head back on Neal's chest. "It changes everything."


End file.
